A flag is usually a piece of fabric with a distinctive design that is usually rectangular and used as a symbol, as a signaling device, or decoration. The term flag is also used to refer to the graphic design employed by a flag, or to its depiction in another medium.
The first flags were used to assist military coordination on battlefields, and flags have since evolved into a general tool for rudimentary signalling and identification, especially in environments where communication is similarly challenging (such as the maritime environment where semaphore is used). National flags are potent patriotic symbols with varied wide-ranging interpretations, often including strong military associations due to their original and ongoing military uses. Flags are also used in messaging, advertising, or for other decorative purposes. The study of flags is known as vexillology, from the Latin vexillum meaning flag or banner.
Read more about Flag: History, National Flags, Flags At Sea, Shapes and Designs, Religious Flags, Linguistic Flags, In Sports, In Politics, Vehicle Flags, Swimming Flags, Railway Flags, Flagpoles, Hoisting The Flag, Flags and Communication, Flapping
Other articles related to "flag, flags":
... Government would press for a change in the Iraqi flag to remove its pan-Arab symbolism, and to make a definitive break with the period of Ba'athist rule ... by his government, there was also strong aversion to the flag from Iraq's Kurdish minority, who resented its evocation of pan-Arabism ... However, Iraqi opponents of changing the flag argued that since the flag had been used since 1963, long before Saddam Hussein's presidency, it was unfair to characterise it as a 'Sadd ...
... Flag was accepted by town's council on September 27, 2001 and was included in Belarus' coats of arms registry on January 23, 2002 ... Flag has rectangular form with width to length ratio equal 1 2, and consists of tree horizontal bands blue (6/9 of width), white (1/9 of width) and red (2/9 of width) ...
... The flag of Iraq (Arabic علم العراق) includes the three equal horizontal red, white, and black stripes of the Arab Liberation Flag ...
... When blown by the wind, flags are subject to wave-like motions that grow in amplitude along the length of the flag ... This is sometimes ascribed to the flag pole giving vortex shedding, however flags that are held by lanyards also can be seen to flap ...
... Vexilloid" is a term used tenuously to describe vexillary (flag-like) objects used by countries, organizations, or individuals as a form of representation ... he defined a vexilloid as An object which functions as a flag but differs from it in some respect, usually appearance ... "vexilloid" can be used of any banner (vexillary object) which is not a flag ...
Famous quotes containing the word flag:
“Hath not the morning dawned with added light?
And shall not evening call another star
Out of the infinite regions of the night,
To mark this day in Heaven? At last, we are
A nation among nations; and the world
Shall soon behold in many a distant port
Another flag unfurled!”
—Henry Timrod (1828–1867)
“Up rose old Barbara Frietchie then,
Bowed with her fourscore years and ten;
Bravest of all in Frederick town,
She took up the flag the men hauled down;”
—John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892)
“There’s an enduring American compulsion to be on the side of the angels. Expediency alone has never been an adequate American reason for doing anything. When actions are judged, they go before the bar of God, where Mom and the Flag closely flank His presence.”
—Jonathan Raban (b. 1942)